Thunderstorms

We had huge thunderstorms last night. Now I don't usually go outside during storms but last night I was already out, and so got to witness one of nature's greatest marvels.



I took these photos of these huge and angry clouds overhead. There is a lot of noise in the pictures, my camera doesn't do well in low light situations. But I think they give you a little taste of what my storm was like. Try as I could, I could not get a picture of lightning flashes, oh well, maybe next time. We are in tornado and storm season now so it's just a matter of time :)



It rained buckets on us all night, our yard was flooded, and we even have a storm drain in the middle of it :)

Best Shot Monday

Weekend Snapshot

Weekend Snapshot

Odd Shots Monday

Obviously an overexposed picture. But I like the way the water looks like silk against the tree branch.



Odd Shots Monday

Thursday Photo Challenge - Shapes

Saw this heart shape knothole in this tree and thought it was neat so I had to get a photo:)

Wordless Wednesday

The roses I got for Mother's Day :)

Best Shot Monday

A photo of my daughter and the little girl she babysits. It truly is my best shot because I took over 200 photos that day and only a few came out good. I don't know how people who take pictures of toddlers for a living can do it, I could not get that girl to sit still for anything!

Best Shot Monday

Weekend Snapshot

Love those water ripples :)

Weekend Snapshot

Odd Shots Monday

The reflection of trees on a mud puddle, I thought it looked odd :)

Odd Shots Monday

Unique's Photo Challenge - Silhouette

Another photo I took when we went to see the Blue Man Group....



Unique's Photo Challenge

Camera Critters

I found this bird and his mate both sitting on my porch rail last week. I don't know what kind they are or anything but these are my first animal pictures that I have taken besides from Mischief, and I thought they turned out well :)

Anyone else having problems uploading pictures with Blogger? I have been trying all day just to get these two uploaded, It's driving me nuts!!

Go check out some more animals every Sunday at Camera Critters.

Unconscious Mutterings

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Track :: Star
   
2. Snake :: Skin
   
3. Assignment :: School
   
4. Blockbuster :: Movies
   
5. Bombastic :: Reggae
   
6. Adventure :: Trip
   
7. First time :: Riding a bike
   
8. Aged :: Elderly
   
9. Grip :: Handlebars
   
10. Shortcut:: Lost

Go check out more Mutterings....

See It Sunday - Bright

See It Sunday

Weekly Winners

Here are a few photos showcasing the beauty of spring.











Weekly Winners

Thursday Photo Challenge - Family

My husband and daughter Leanna being silly at Grandma's house....




Leanna hugging Grandma, with Mischief in the shot too....

Inspire Me Thursday - Doors

Picture taken by my daughter, looking down our hallway with all its doors. She told me that she couldn't explain it, she just saw something she liked there. Do I see a budding photographer in her maybe? I don't know....



Visit Inspire Me Thursday.

13 Things to Bring on a Long Car Trip

1. Snacks of various kinds.

2. A flashlight or reading light to keep the kids busy.

3. CDs of music you actually like for the long drive in the radio station wastelands.

4. A blanket because the husband keeps the car too cold.

5. A pillow because the daughter wont let me use hers.

6. A water bowl and water for the dog (its hard to get him to drink out of a regular water bottle).

7. A pooper scooper for use at rest stops (using a plastic bag to pick it up is real yucky).

8. The TomTom so we don't get lost, again.

9. Books, magazines, fill in puzzles.

10. The cell phone car charger because the family calls every 5 minutes to see how far we have gotten.

11. Water, lots of water (for me).

12. All the luggage, double check the house before you go.

13. The family, although sometimes you would prefer to leave them behind :)


For more participants, visit Thursday Thirteen.

I'm Back!!

Did you miss me??

Good news, after some extremely tense moments, grandpa has rallyed again and pulled through. They won't let him come home yet but he is awake and alert, just very very weak.

We didn't want to leave him and grandma, but my husband's leave time was up and I had a job to start when we got back here.

So we're home now, I am swamped with school work because I wasn't able to use a computer/internet while we were gone to research for these papers I need to get done, and the term ends next week.

I also started a new job this past Monday. Yay!! I am the new Juvenile Intake Worker for our county. Basically what I will be doing is whenever a child under 18 gets in trouble with the law I will have to go and do an intake, ask a lot of questions, deal with the parents, decide where the child is to be placed (at home, foster care, or detention) until they go to court. Then if they are placed at a foster home or group home, I will take them there.

Also, any child that is a victim of abuse, neglect, or is a runaway or truant from school, I do an intake on them and place them also.

I am excited about the job, now I just have to wait for something to happen, as it is an on call position.

But anyway, I am here, just buried under stuff, trying to dig out :)

Wordless Wednesday

Out of Town

Looks like we'll be heading out today. My husband's grandpa is extremely sick and we've been called home. All we have to do now is wade through the Army's red tape in order to get approved for emergency leave.

I don't know if I'll have any internet access while I'm gone but I'll try to check in if I can.

Please keep us in your thoughts.... the inevitable is going to crush my husband because his grandparents are like parents to him.

Spring Time Photo Contest

Karen is hosting a photo contest with a spring theme on her blog. This is my entry into the contest. If you click on the photo, it will enlarge and you can see it better. We planted these flowers in our flower garden this year (ok, my husband planted them while I took pictures, lol). I took this one right after he watered them and you can still see the water drops on the flower.



Voting starts on April 18th and ends on the 21st. Go on over and check it out, and if you like my photo entry, please vote for me :)

Wordless Wednesday

A little glimpse of beauty alone in the uglieness....

Tackle It Tuesday

I'm kind of embarrassed to show you the mountain of clean clothes that I have on my bed. They need to be folded and put away or hung up. I don't usually mind doing laundry, but this part of it I hate!



Edit: I'm finally finished!! Yay! I'm not going to show you a picture of that because it would just be my empty bed (that's not made) lol :)

To see what other people are tackling, head on over to 5 Minutes For Mom.

Talk About Tuesday - Blue Man Group

Sunday we drove into Wichita to see the Blue Man Group at the Kansas Coliseum. It was a fantastic show!! Much better than I had expected.



They had an opening act, Mike Relm, who was great himself. I don't quite know how to explain what he does. He does things with sounds and video and choreographs them together, which changes them into something else. Does that make sense?



These blue men, who are actually blue, can play the drums on any type of contraption and make it sound awesome!





These drums were awesome, that is water spraying up as he is drumming....





This show had a lot of audience participation to it, with words on the screens telling people what to do, and the blue men really catering to the audience and getting them involved. The people in this next picture actually were part of the audience, and got pulled up on the stage to participate in some weirdness. That is a huge gob of marshmallows on her head, by the way :)



Its like there was a comedy act in the middle of all the music....







All in all, it was a great show for people of all ages, the group sitting next to me had a three or four year old, and she just loved it, laughing through the whole show. Leanna, who is 16, had a great time also.



This is the guitarist, I just put this photo up because it turned out well :)



The only issue I have is the price of the concessions and souvenirs once you get there. A regular size bag of M&Ms cost $3.00!! and so did a bottle of water. It was crazy! The program for the show, you know we had to get one of them, was $15.00! I almost said no because of the price, but we get one from every event we attend and it was a pretty cool little book. The DVDs were $30.00 so I said no way to that.

To see what other people are talking about this week, please visit The Lazy Organizer.

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

Today I turned 35. Kind of a milestone I guess but I don't feel any different.

So the reason I haven't been around all weekend is because my family kind of turned it into a birthday weekend for me. We spent a lot of time together as a family, something you do less and less of as the kid gets older and everyone has different interests.

Friday we ate at Cracker Barrel, who's Chicken and Dumplings are to die for. Saturday morning we went to IHOP and I ordered stuffed french toast with bananas and caramel on top. It was awesome, just like eating dessert :) Then my husband cooked me dinner using recipes he found. He is so sweet sometimes :)

Yesterday we drove to Wichita (2 hours away) to go see The Blue Man Group perform. It was so awesome!! I've seen videos of them before but it is so much better live. We had floor seats 27 rows back. They were pretty decent seats. Leanna had a perfect view in between people but I had 2 big heads in front of me. Oh well, that is to be expected, lol. I took some pictures and I'll see about getting them up a little later today after I have a look at them.

One thing I have to remember to never do again: Never go to an event with only one camera battery that isn't even fully charged. The camera died on me. So for my birthday I'm buying an extra camera battery (or two).

Question: Has anyone used Ebay or Amazon for camera supplies? I've noticed their prices are cheaper than places like B&H but.... sometime cheap means cheap, know what I mean? I'm scared to shop online sometimes because I don't know what kind of quality I'm going to get. I wish there was a camera store near us....

Camera Critters

This is the first week of the new Camera Critters meme, showcasing the animals in your life.







What can I say? I have one lazy dog!!

Thursday Photo Challenge - Silly

The look on Leanna's face when that sheep touched her hand was priceless!!

Love Thursday

Photos taken by my daughter. Happy Love Thursday everyone!!

Lens Day - Comfort

This weeks Lens Day Challenge is Comfort. Being a military wife and all, this photo means comfort to me....

Wordless Wednesday